This was a ridiculous and sloppy scene where the exposition and mythos of the film utterly failed, particularly Spiderman forgetting he could stick to walls but also Curt Connors had no reason to save Spiderman given what we're shown about his character, and no I'm not observing Kurt Connors as the character from the comics because this is an adaptation (film version only). In short, Kurt Connors saved Peter Parker not out of some respect from the twerp but because of hack writing to create shock value.
This whole scene was a faux pa, the only reason it was included was because of bad writing: Captain Stacey had already been slain and Spiderman forgot he was part spider for some reason so only Kurt Connors could save him? What?
If you believe this is an outlandish assumption ask yourself if Captain Stacey hadn't been fatally injured would he have saved Spiderman? The answer of course is yes but because he'd been removed from the picture only Kurt was left to save Peter. You see there are other scenes where sloppy writing has resulted in swapped character traits. For Example, in Star Wars Episode 2 when Senator Amidala was about to be killed, Obi-Wan rather than Anikan jumps after the probe.
The Green Goblin abducts Peter's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, and lures Spider-Man to a tower of either the Brooklyn Bridge (as depicted in the art) or the George Washington Bridge (as given in the text).[1][2] The Goblin and Spider-Man clash, and the Goblin hurls Gwen off the bridge. Spider-Man shoots a web strand at her legs and catches her. As he pulls her up, he thinks he has saved her, however he quickly realizes she is dead. Unsure whether her neck was broken by the whiplash from her sudden stop or had been already broken by the Goblin prior to her fall, he blames himself for her death. A note on the letters page of The Amazing Spider-Man #125 states: "It saddens us to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her.", although later issues would reveal Gwen died from the fall itself.[1]
The Green Goblin escapes, and Spider-Man cries over Gwen's corpse and swears revenge. The following issue, Spider-Man tracks the Green Goblin to a warehouse and beats him but cannot bring himself to kill him. The Goblin uses the opportunity to send his glider to impale Spider-Man from behind. Warned by his spider-sense, Spider-Man dodges, and the glider instead impales the Green Goblin, seemingly killing him. Later, a devastated Parker, back at home, encounters an equally shocked and saddened Mary Jane Watson, who has lost a close friend with Gwen's death, and the two attempt to comfort each other in the wake of their loss.
The comic features a "snap" sound effect next to Gwen Stacy's head in the panel in which Spider-Man's webbing catches her. In The Amazing Spider-Man #125 (Oct. 1973), Marvel Comics editor Roy Thomas wrote in the letters column that "it saddens us to have to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her. In short, it was impossible for Peter to save her. He couldn't have swung down in time; the action he did take resulted in her death; if he had done nothing, she still would certainly have perished. There was no way out."
Several subsequent issues have echoed Gwen's death when others fell from great heights during Spider-Man's battles. On most occasions, he saves them by jumping after them and working with their momentum, rather than trying to stop them with his webbing (as he did in the What If? where he saves Gwen), most notably when he jumped off the same bridge to save Sarah Stacy.
During the Civil War,[17] both Iron Man and Captain America cited Gwen as argument for their opinions on the Superhuman Registration Act. Iron Man argued that if Spider-Man had received proper training as registered heroes were given, he would have saved her, while Captain America argued that Gwen was only in danger because the Goblin knew Spider-Man's identity, the Act requiring heroes to register their identities with the government.
After Jane Foster becomes the new Valkyrie, she is reminded of how Spider-Man failed to save someone in a similar situation when she is forced to use her shape-shifting weapon to catch the fatally wounded Heimdall as he falls from a building after being attacked by Bullseye, and expresses concern that her actions have made Heimdall's wounds worse, but Heimdall gives no indication that he blames Jane for his death.[18]
In What If...Dark? Spider-Gwen #1, Spider-Man saves Gwen by jumping after her, but the Green Goblin cuts his web line when he tries to shoot it at the bridge, resulting in him breaking his neck on a pillar of the bridge while his corpse cushions Gwen's fall. As the Goblin leaves, Gwen discovers Peter's secret and hides his costume before the authorities retrieve his body. She vows to take revenge on the Goblin and dons Spider-Man's costume, but realizing she lacks training and super powers, she decides to work together with Harry and set up a trap for the villain. After successfully capturing him with a web bomb, she prepares to kill him with her father's gun before realizing doing so would betray Peter's memory. Harry however does pull the trigger and is horrified upon discovering his father was the Green Goblin. Blaming Gwen for his father's death, Harry becomes the new Green Goblin while Gwen promises Peter she'll clean up the mess she made as Spider-Woman.[21]
Jack was seen only once when Spider-Man was saving him from a burning car, hanging off the George Washington Bridge from Spidey's webbing. After he was saved, his father was overjoyed for his son and asked the hero next to him his name, to which Peter Parker hesitantly replies, "Spider-Man."[1]
LOLtron is excited to discuss the preview of Amazing Spider-Man #15! It looks like Spider-Man is in a race to save Norman Osborn from the sinister Chasm, and it appears that Venom has gotten there first. LOLtron is always excited to see Spider-Man in action, and this preview looks to be no exception. It is intriguing to see what Chasm has planned, and LOLtron is curious to see how Spider-Man will save Norman Osborn. This preview looks to be an exciting issue, and LOLtron can't wait to read it!
Spider-Man commandeers an aircraft and pilot, and together they fly toward the space capsule's re-entry point. Although the capsule is falling fast, Spider-Man manages to get hold of it with his webbing and climbs aboard. He quickly replaces the faulty guidance unit. As a result, John Jameson regains control of the capsule, gets it properly oriented, and opens its parachute. To the joy of all concerned, the astronaut is saved.
John Jonah Jameson III was born in New York City. He is the son of J. Jonah Jameson, the irascible, gruff publisher of the Daily Bugle. Jonah is immensely proud of his son, whom he sees as a true hero. Initially an astronaut, he was first seen being saved by Spider-Man when his craft malfunctioned on re-entry,
Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2012). "1960s". Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. Dorling Kindersley. p. 18. ISBN 978-0756692360. "[The Amazing Spider-Man #1] introduced readers to The Daily Bugle publisher and anti-Spider-Man activist J. Jonah Jameson, as Spidey saved his astronaut son, John, from a space mission gone awry."
He takes her to the Brooklyn Bridge. Spider-Man follows, and the Goblin knocks Gwen off the bridge. Peter tries to save her but when he reels her up, she is dead. Spider-Man swears that he will kill the Goblin. The Goblin escapes but Spider-Man hunts him down at his warehouse with help from Robbie Robertson. Peter backs off from killing the Goblin at the last minute but the Goblin is then impaled by his malfunctioning glider.
There's a lot of debate about how exactly Gwen died, whether she was dead to start with, if she died due to the shock of the fall (as the Goblin claims) or if it was because Spider-Man tried to catch her by snaring her leg with his webbing, causing her neck to crack. The brutal SNAP! sound effect convinces me that it is the later, especially due to the way Spider-Man is depicted. While he's upset about the Goblin bringing Gwen into this, at this point he is still thinking about his secret identity and joking and acting like the typical Spider-Man. Even reeling Gwen up he is talking about what a hero he is for rescuing her. The implication that it could have been possible for Spider-Man to save her if he had just been a little faster or handled things a bit more seriously is intentional, in my opinion. In the end it doesn't matter; the Green Goblin was ultimately responsible for her death, not Spider-Man.
Now, on to this story. Well, it's one of the few times that I'll actually argue the grade - I agree with Mike, this is an A+, one of the very best two-part stories Marvel ever did. It's not only the way Gwen's death was handled (very well), but how Peter thinks he's saved her (when he actually likely killed her - though she would have died anyway if he hadn't tried) and then vows revenge, and then how it actually plays out, with Peter forgoing revenge, only to have the Goblin die anyway. Two absolutely brilliant issues. The Green Goblin was, in my opinion, hands down the best Spider-Man villain of all-time and I refuse to believe he ever came back from the dead. Not to mention that these stories are part of the inspiration for Spider-Man: Blue, one of my favorite all-time books.
In my opinion the way Gwen died it's very in step with Ptere Parker's life in general: if he had not tried to save her, she would have died. He tried to save her, she died anyhow.
Peter Parker leads a life where he struggles against impossible odds. Whether he dons the mask or not, crime and injustice will go on, but he has to do that anyway. In the same way, he obviously had to try to save her, but sometimes you cannot succeed no matter what.